Vlad Tanyuk, 6, and his 10-year-old brother, Vova, were pictured standing over their mother’s grave, which was hastily dug in the backyard of their Bucha home on the outskirts of Kiev earlier this week.
Their mother, Ira, is said to have died of starvation and anxiety from Russia’s ongoing atrocities.
It was not immediately clear when Ira died.
Russia has been accused of war crimes in Bukha – the city where the boys live – following the massacre of dozens of innocent civilians by Vladimir Putin’s troops.
Authorities are collecting bodies – many with gunshot wounds or severe burns – from the streets of Buha and burying them in mass graves.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the city on Monday to “show the world” mass graves, as he promised to hold Russia accountable for treating Ukrainians “worse than animals”.
“We want to show the world what happened here. What did the Russian army do? “What did the Russian Federation do in a peaceful Ukraine?” Zelensky said.
Vlad Tanyuk stands near the grave of his mother, Ira Tanyuk, who died of starvation and anxiety due to the war, on the outskirts of Kiev on April 4, 2022.AP Photo / Rodrigo AbdResearchers and volunteers begin the grueling work of recording deaths and Evaluation of War Crimes Evidence in Bucha, Ukraine, April 6, 2022. Carol Guzy / ZUMA Press Wire
CONTENT WARNING:
A civilian is killed on the ground next to a car in Bukha, the city recaptured by the Ukrainian army. / ROMAN PILIPEY A Ukrainian soldier walks among wrecked Russian tanks in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kiev, Ukraine, on April 6, 2022.AP Photo / Felipe Dana, Archive
CONTENT WARNING:
Russia has been accused of war crimes in Bukha after the massacre of dozens of innocent civilians by Vladimir Putin’s troops. Carol Guzy / ZUMA Press WireVova Tanyuk places orange juice on the grave of her mother, Ira Tanyuk.AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
“It was important for you to see that they were citizens.”
“What you see around you, what they did in this modern city, is a feature of the Russian army, which treated people worse than animals. “These are war crimes and this will be recognized by the world as genocide.”
With Post cables
